Early reports say border queues ‘no longer than normal’ despite strike
30.11.11
By mid-morning Heathrow and Gatwick airports had been largely unaffected by today's border control strike, the Evening Standard reports. There were a small number cancellations of inbound transatlantic flights to Heathrow, but airport operator BAA, and its busiest airline, British Airways, both reported near-normal services, with queues at immigration no longer than usual. At Gatwick the first 22 inbound flights arrived as normal, with departures also running smoothly.
There has been fears that strike action by UK Border Agency (UKBA) staff would lead to chaos at Heathrow, but a British Airways spokesman told the newspaper: ‘We have had a positive start to the day and queues are pretty much as normal. There are reports that around two-thirds of the Border Agency staff are working at Heathrow.’
A BAA spokesman said: ‘Due to the effective contingency plans we have put in place with the airlines and the UKBA over recent days, immigration queues are currently at normal levels. However, there still remains a possibility of delays for arriving passengers later in the day. As a result of the whole airport community working together over the past few days, we have more immigration officers on duty and fewer passengers arriving than would otherwise be the case. That puts us in a better place to avoid the serious delays and widespread disruption at Heathrow that were projected last week.'
Gatwick's chief operating officer, Scott Stanley, said: ‘While passengers have so far not experienced delays at the border zones, we do expect delays to occur at some point today as the rate of arriving flights increases. That said, we do have robust plans in place to help keep those delays a to a minimum. To help avoid overcrowding, we have reconfigured both our airside terminals to provide significantly more space and seating for arriving passengers.’ He added that biometric passport checks would help ease queues.
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